Abstract
The use of intermetallic Pt-Co nanocrystals (NCs) for the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction is quickly gaining interest thanks to the higher electrochemical stability of the intermetallic L10phase compared to a random alloy A1 phase. However, the thermal treatment that enables the intermetallic phase transformation also causes considerable NC aggregation, resulting in a significant loss of electrochemically active surface area. Herein, we report the use of microwave radiation to induce the intermetallic phase transformation in Cu-doped Pt-Co NCs. We demonstrate that microwave radiation reduces NC aggregation while allowing for a complete phase transformation in only 30 s. These microwave-treated NCs demonstrate higher mass activity for the oxygen reduction reaction while maintaining electrochemical stability similar to the thermally annealed samples.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 823-830 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | ACS Materials Letters |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
D.J.R., J.D.L., S.Y., and C.B.M. acknowledge primary support from the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC0001004. E.M. and C.B.M. acknowledge support from the Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative Award ONR N00014-18-1-2497. A.C.F and E.A.S acknowledge support from Integrated Mesoscale Architectures for Sustainable Catalysis (IMASC), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award #DE-SC0012573. D.J.R. and A.C.F. acknowledge support from the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology Fellowship Program. C.B.M. acknowledges the Richard Perry University Professorship at the University of Pennsylvania. This work was carried out in part at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, which is supported by the NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure Program under grant NNCI-2025608. Additional support to the Nanoscale Characterization Facility at the Singh Center has been provided by the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (MRSEC) supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720530).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation | |
| Integrated Mesoscale Architectures for Sustainable Catalysis | |
| Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter | |
| Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University | |
| Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology | |
| National Science Foundation | DMR-1720530, NNCI-2025608 |
| Office of Naval Research | N00014-18-1-2497 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Science | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | -SC0012573, DE-SC0001004 |
| Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University |